Los Angeles urges media to curb coverage of police chases

February 28 2003

Los Angeles officials urged television stations to curb their coverage of police car chases which have become a major source of entertainment in the freeway-bound US city.

The growing popularity of high-speed pursuits in the country's second largest city, famous for its sprawling urban landscape criss-crossed by a tangle of highways and long boulevards, is endangering lives, they warned.

"Police pursuits are not entertainment," the city's Mayor Jim Hahn said yesterday at a press conference, warning that the televising of chases encouraged lawbreakers.

"They're certainly not a video game. They are life-and-death situations that put drivers, police officers, pedestrians, other innocent members of the community at risk."

Hahn and Los Angeles Police Department Chief William Bratton sent a letter to directors of local news stations asking them to reduce their live coverage of what has become a daily phenomenon in the city. ");document.write("

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"We are asking that you seriously reconsider your position on this issue because we do truly believe that it encourages some people to take advantage of (the coverage)," Bratton urged stations at the same press conference.

Los Angeles has become the world capital of police car chases, with more than 700 pursuits reported in the city last year, most of them offering hours of live television coverage.

Televised coverage of chases has exploded over the last 10 years here, with news stations despatching helicopters and interrupting scheduled programming to offer live blow-by-blow footage of runaway drivers' antics.

In addition, a battery of internet entrepreneurs have developed an ancillary industry built around notifying police pursuit fans when a chase begins and which channels to watch it on.

"I have to be honest, whenever I see a chase I just have to sit and watch," said Los Angeles resident and chase fan Richard Trejo.